More fever and chills and pausing the infusions

After my previous hospital stay, I was discharged on 12/23/25 because I was no longer fevering or having chills, but on 12/27 I had a high fever (103.9 F) and we called 911 and took an ambulance back to Beth Israel Emergency Department

I started having rigors (violent shaking chills) for about an hour while feeling very cold. It was pretty scary as my body was shaking uncontrollably.  Then, it broke and I felt very hot. They gave me tylenol which lowered my temperature. My doctors were concerned that I might have an infection (viral, bacterial, or fungal) causing these fevers so I went through a battery of blood tests, which didn't find any evidence of infection. I still had the full body rash with peeling skin. The Dermatology team wanted to treat it with steroids, but that would stop my immunotherapy effectiveness.

In the end, they decided the fever, rigors, and rash were an adverse effect of the Pembrolizumab infusions. My oncologist told me that people for whom Pembrolizumab/Keytruda was most effective, often had the strongest adverse effects.

The current plan is to pause the infusions because my immune system is already primed to kill the cancer and then every month I'll get a CT scan to see that it is continuing to kill the cancer tumors. If the cancer begins to grow again then I'll return to more infusions.

My current challenges are lack of appetite and I still feel cold (but no rigors). It is frustrating for my wife because my taste buds have changed and we need to discover what I can eat.  Also, my salivary glands are not working well so I have dry mouth. The photo is yesterday's lunch - tapioca pudding, broiled cod, and a vegetable soup (spinach, zucchini, ...).

The big picture is that my immune system is busily and successfully attacking my cancer and doesn't need any help for a while. I have annoying issues with appetite, but its pretty common for cancer patients and my wife is doing an excellent job trying to craft a diet I can eat. I'm lucky she married me 32 years ago, for better or worse, in sickness and in health; and I'm hoping to better and in health in a few months!




Comments

  1. JaneJanuary 11, 2026 at 8:43 AM

    Once again Tim, thank you for the informative post. It’s good to know that the infusion is working so well- maybe too well?! Let’s hope that your appetite returns so that you can enjoy more of Yas’s delicious cooking!

    ReplyDelete

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